A refrigerator is a home appliance that can store foods at a low temperature in an internal storage space closed by a door. The refrigerator can cool the inside of the storage space using cool air generated through heat exchanging with a refrigerant that circulates through a refrigerating cycle.
Various devices for convenience of a user may be provided in the refrigerator. For example, a dispenser may be provided at the door.
The dispenser enables the user to extract purified water or ice at the outside of the door. The dispenser may be configured to dispense cold water, purified water, or ice depending on a selection of the user.
A refrigerator may include a hot water heater at an upper side of a door provided with a dispenser, to provide hot water through the dispenser.
In a refrigerator including the hot water heater that is attachable/detachable, the thickness of the door may be increased. If the thickness of the door is maintained, the heat insulating performance of the door may degrade, and power consumption may increase.
In some examples, the entire flow path for supplying hot water may be long and complicated. When hot water is extracted, heat loss may occur through the long flow path, and therefore, the temperature of the hot water may decrease.
In some examples where the hot water heater does not measure the temperature of input water, the hot water may not be discharged at a constant temperature.